A round of applause, please, for the Indian man who recently sang for 80 hours straight, setting a new Guinness world record. It’s an impressive feat, to be sure, but let’s just hope he still has a voice. According to Indian newspapers, Rajesh Burbure has been told to keep silent for several days so his vocal cords (声带) can heal.

It was reported that Burbure and his family are in a celebratory mood. “It’s a proud moment for all of us,” his wife told DNAIndia.com.

I, on the other hand, am unable to share their enthusiasm. Don’t get me wrong: I hope the 35-year-old Burbure lives forever, sells a million records and becomes an international celebrity. But his record–singing for 80 hours straight–is about as meaningful as most of the other curious but crazy feats listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Granted , I’m not qualified to speak on the subject. I’ve got no world records to my name– and I never expect to have any. Then again, maybe I am qualified to speak for those of us who have better things to do than train for years to sing an 80-hour medley (混合曲) of pop songs.

But let’s not just pick on poor Burbure. He’s not the only person chasing meaningless accolades. The Guinness Book of World Records is full of the names of people who at one time grew the longest hair, or built the biggest bicycle, or baked the largest cheesecake.

To all of these enterprising (有进取心的) souls I ask, simply, “What was it all for?”

Congratulations! For all of your painstaking effort, you became a footnote in a thick book that no one reads, except for you and the person who will eventually surpass you–with one more hour of singing, a few more centimeters of steel or a few more pounds of cheese.

After all, records are made to be broken.

From the text, we can learn that the author         .

      A．has no Guinness records, so he admires Burbures’ feat

       B．feels it is a pity he was not invited to share the happiness with the Burbures

       C．thinks singing for 80 hours straight is completely meaningless

       D．is quite worried about Burbure’s vocal cords

Before someone wins a Guinness record, he or she has to         .

       A．become an international celebrity

       B．know all about Guinness record

       C．practice a great deal

       D．bear great stress for fear of injury

We can infer from the article that        .

       A．after the 80 hours of singing, Burbure could no longer speak

       B．Burbure’ wife didn’t support his attempt to make a Guinness record

       C．many have criticized Burbure for his stupid behavior

       D．challenging a Guinness record may be harmful to the health

The author’s attitude to the Guinness world records mentioned in the passage is         .

       A．positive           B．impressed

       C．negative           D．touched

What is the best title for the passage?

       A．What Was the Point?

       B．Records Are Made to be Broken

       C．A New Indian Guinness Record

       D．The Guinness Book Is Boring

A round of applause, please, for the Indian man who recently sang for 80 hours straight, setting a new Guinness world record. It’s an impressive feat, to be sure, but let’s just hope he still has a voice．According to Indian newspapers, Rajesh Burbure has been told to keep silent for several days so his vocal cords（声带）can heal．
It was reported that Burbure and his family are in a celebratory mood. "It's a proud moment for all of us," his wife told DNAIndia.com．
I, on the other hand, am unable to share their enthusiasm．Don't get me wrong: I hope the 35-year-old Burbure lives forever, sells a million records and becomes an international celebrity．But his record—singing for 80 hours straight—is about as meaningful as most of the other curious but crazy feats listed in the Guinness Book of World Records．
Granted, I'm not qualified to speak on the subject．I've got no world records to my name, and I never expect to have any．Then again, maybe I am qualified to speak for those of us who have better things to do than train for years to sing an 80-hour medley（集成曲）of pop songs．
But let’s not just pick on poor Burbure．He’s not the only person chasing meaningless accolades（荣誉）．The Guinness Book of World Records is full of the names of people who at one time grew the longest hair, or built the biggest bicycle, or baked the largest cheesecake．
To all of these enterprising souls I ask, simply, "What was it all for?"
Congratulations! For all of your painstaking effort, you became a footnote in a thick book that no one reads, except for you and the person who will eventually surpass you, with one more hour of singing, a few more centimeters of steel or a few more pounds of cheese．
After all, records are made to be broken．
【小题1】From the text, we can conclude that the author _________．

Just 25 years ago, the top three career hopes for young people in Britain were teacher, banker and doctor. Now, they want to be sports star, pop star and actor, according to a survey by the Guardian newspaper.
Rachel, a character in the popular TV show Glee, may be said to speak for British teenagers. “Nowadays being nobody is worse than being poor.” He said.
Emma Brockes, a reporter with the Guardian, believes it is “the bad influence of celebrity(名人) culture”  that is to blame. “When children wanted to be doctor, it wasn’t because they were really more interested in the functions of human organs than they are now; you go where the respect is.” She wrote.
It could explain why there has been such an increase in levels of anxiety and depression. Dr Carlo Stranger, of Tel Aviv University, studied the sense of self for his new book The Fear of Insignificance: Searching for Meaning in the 21^st Century. He told the Daily Mail that young people now are “affected by the close connection to the global entertainment network, which has turned ranking and rating people according to wealth and celebrity into an obsession(痴迷).”
“As humans, we naturally measure ourselves to those around us, but now we live in a global village. We are comparing ourselves with the most ‘important’ people in the world and finding ourselves wanting…” he said. Today, even high achievers constantly fear that they are insignificant when they compare themselves to success stories in the media.
The way out? Simply stop measuring your achievement through a fantasy of wealth and celebrity. Dr Strenger said that it is a process called “active self-acceptance through a constant search for self-knowledge through life.”
“The fear of insignificance can only be overcome through strong individual and cultural identity over and above measurable achievement,” he said.
【小题1】.Nowadays, young people in Britain want to        .

A round of applause, please, for the Indian man who recently sang for 80 hours straight, setting a new Guinness world record. It’s an impressive feat, to be sure, but let’s just hope he still has a voice．According to Indian newspapers, Rajesh Burbure has been told to keep silent for several days so his vocal cords（声带）can heal．

It was reported that Burbure and his family are in a celebratory mood. "It's a proud moment for all of us," his wife told DNAIndia.com．

I, on the other hand, am unable to share their enthusiasm．Don't get me wrong: I hope the 35-year-old Burbure lives forever, sells a million records and becomes an international celebrity．But his record—singing for 80 hours straight—is about as meaningful as most of the other curious but crazy feats listed in the Guinness Book of World Records．

Granted, I'm not qualified to speak on the subject．I've got no world records to my name, and I never expect to have any．Then again, maybe I am qualified to speak for those of us who have better things to do than train for years to sing an 80-hour medley（集成曲）of pop songs．

But let’s not just pick on poor Burbure．He’s not the only person chasing meaningless accolades（荣誉）．The Guinness Book of World Records is full of the names of people who at one time grew the longest hair, or built the biggest bicycle, or baked the largest cheesecake．

To all of these enterprising souls I ask, simply, "What was it all for?"

Congratulations! For all of your painstaking effort, you became a footnote in a thick book that no one reads, except for you and the person who will eventually surpass you, with one more hour of singing, a few more centimeters of steel or a few more pounds of cheese．

After all, records are made to be broken．

1.From the text, we can conclude that the author _________．

A．thinks singing for 80 hours straight is completely meaningless

B．feels it a pity he was not invited to share the happiness with the Burbures

C．is quite worried about Burbure’s vocal cords

D．has no Guinness records, so he admires Burbures’ feat

2.Before someone wins a Guinness record, he or she has to ________．

A．become an international celebrity

B．know all about Guinness records

C．practice a great deal

D．bear great stress for fear of injury

3.We can infer from the article that ________．

A．after the 80 hours of singing, Burbure could no longer speak

B．Burbure’s wife didn’t support his attempt to make a Guinness record

C．many have criticized Burbure for his stupid behavior

D．challenging a Guinness record may be harmful to the health

4.The author’s attitude to some Guinness world records is ________．

A．positive           B．impressed         C．negative          D．touched

A round of applause, please, for the Indian man who recently sang for 80 hours straight, setting a new Guinness world record. It’s an impressive feat, to be sure, but let’s just hope he still has a voice. According to Indian newspapers, Rajesh Burbure has been told to keep silent for several days so his vocal cords (声带) can heal.

It was reported that Burbure and his family are in a celebratory mood. “It’s a proud moment for all of us,” his wife told DNAIndia.com.

I, on the other hand, am unable to share their enthusiasm. Don’t get me wrong: I hope the 35-year-old Burbure lives forever, sells a million records and becomes an international celebrity. But his record–singing for 80 hours straight–is about as meaningful as most of the other curious but crazy feats listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Granted , I’m not qualified to speak on the subject. I’ve got no world records to my name– and I never expect to have any. Then again, maybe I am qualified to speak for those of us who have better things to do than train for years to sing an 80-hour medley (混合曲) of pop songs.

But let’s not just pick on poor Burbure. He’s not the only person chasing meaningless accolades. The Guinness Book of World Records is full of the names of people who at one time grew the longest hair, or built the biggest bicycle, or baked the largest cheesecake.

To all of these enterprising (有进取心的) souls I ask, simply, “What was it all for?”

Congratulations! For all of your painstaking effort, you became a footnote in a thick book that no one reads, except for you and the person who will eventually surpass you–with one more hour of singing, a few more centimeters of steel or a few more pounds of cheese.

After all, records are made to be broken.

1.From the text, we can learn that the author         .

        A．has no Guinness records, so he admires Burbures’ feat

         B．feels it is a pity he was not invited to share the happiness with the Burbures

         C．thinks singing for 80 hours straight is completely meaningless

         D．is quite worried about Burbure’s vocal cords

2.Before someone wins a Guinness record, he or she has to         .

         A．become an international celebrity

         B．know all about Guinness record

         C．practice a great deal

         D．bear great stress for fear of injury

3.We can infer from the article that        .

         A．after the 80 hours of singing, Burbure could no longer speak

         B．Burbure’ wife didn’t support his attempt to make a Guinness record

         C．many have criticized Burbure for his stupid behavior

         D．challenging a Guinness record may be harmful to the health

4.The author’s attitude to the Guinness world records mentioned in the passage is         .

         A．positive                                                              B．impressed

         C．negative                                                            D．touched

5.What is the best title for the passage?

         A．What Was the Point?

         B．Records Are Made to be Broken

         C．A New Indian Guinness Record

         D．The Guinness Book Is Boring